


Adventurous Childhood Things

by LyingHonesty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 07:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyingHonesty/pseuds/LyingHonesty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean had crappy childhoods. Gabriel intends to solve this problem, for Sam at least.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventurous Childhood Things

**Author's Note:**

> Sam and Gabriel make a botched attempt at reenacting Cinderella in this story. So… you know… fairy tales with gay characters. It’s not a warning, it’s just… letting you know. I’ve maimed your childhood too. Congrats.

_ Blanket forts, a Tree House We Never Use, Acting Out a Fairy Tale, and Fucking Disneyland, Dammit _

Sam isn’t quite sure how or when Gabriel had talked him into this. What is ‘this’? Well… it’s rather embarrassing, to be honest, and Sam isn’t entirely sure he wants to share it with you, all things considered. He would really prefer that this didn’t get back to Dean. His brother teases him enough as it is, thank you very much, and there’s no reason to give the guy more ammo.

Ah, what the hell. Gabriel spent weeks and weeks badgering Sam about the fact that the Winchester brothers had been sorely deprived of their childhoods, ball games with Bobby aside. That said, Gabriel wanted to give Sam the full childhood experience. The Archangel started with little things, easing Sam into it. First there was eating ice cream before dinner. Then, there was bedtime stories (Luckily, Gabriel agreed that normal bedtime stories were pathetic, and opted instead to tell Sam stories about Asgard and Jotunheimr, and the time he convinced Thor to crossdress because Frejya had decided to be difficult that day).

It escalated gradually, but everything Gabriel had come up with made  _sense_ , even if Sam absolutely hated the carnival they went to, and Gabriel made up for it with a trip to the State Fair in Minnesota (they were there hunting Wendigos  _anyway_ , and who cares what Dean thinks? The Minnesota State Fair is fucking awesome, Gabriel wants you to know, and yes, he did tinker with the Dance Dance Revolution machine so the guys showing off and hogging the thing didn’t need money from the poor spectators) and a LOT of free food.

This though? This makes no sense.

“Sam!” Gabriel whines, drawing out Sam’s name on a long, annoying note. “You have to help me, I’m too short for this part!” Sam rolls his eyes.

“Why don’t you just -” He snapped his fingers, and Gabriel pouted.

“Because, that defeats the purpose, Sasquatch. You’re supposed to  _build_ it. By hand. Please?” Sam sighs and walks over to Gabriel. He takes the corner of the blanket from Gabriel’s hands and tucks it up on top of the bookcase, moving a particularly heavy box on top of it to pin it up.

“Good?”

Gabriel nods enthusiastically and shoves another blanket into Sam’s arms. “We have to make sure that the movies, the TV, and the sofa are the only things under the fort, okay? I’ll work on where we’re gonna sit.” Sam snorts and shakes out the blanket, scouting places to pin it up. Gabriel gathers up the heavier blankets they can’t use for the fort and arranges them into a vaguely nest-shaped bed between the sofa and the television, humming to himself cheerfully. He throws in some pillows, arranging them meticulously, and when Sam gets the final corner pinned, he turns to see Gabriel already starting a movie.

“What did you pick?” he asks. Gabriel pulls him down onto the nest-bed, and grins.

“You’ll see.” He leans against Sam, surprising the hunter. “Thanks, Sammy.”

“It’s just a blanket fort, Gabriel.”

Gabriel shakes his head and tugs at Sam gently, rising up to press their lips together briefly. “Nah, it’s childhood.” Gabriel pretends Sam isn’t blushing, and Sam fights it down. Yeah, he’s blushing like a school girl because of a tiny little kiss. But if you tell Dean, Sam promises he’ll deny it up and down, and he’ll probably punch you for your trouble.

–

Gabriel has come up with another great idea for giving Sam back his childhood. This one involves, apparently, a lot of wood, nails, and a really big, really old tree. Gabriel promises Sam that the Dryad that lives in the tree is okay with them using her tree for… whatever it is they’re doing.

“Gabriel, are we building a tree house?” Sam asks finally. Gabriel hums, but otherwise doesn’t answer. He sets a bowl of milk and honey at the base of the tree and pats it, then returns to Sam and looks at all the wood. He makes a face.

“I… think short cuts are okay this time. Sound good?” Sam nods, and Gabriel snaps his fingers. In an instant, all their wood is gone, and a very elaborate house is sitting high in the tree. Sam looks up at it.

“I don’t think most kids have  _that_  kind of tree house,” he points out. Gabriel shrugs.

“Most kids don’t have me either. Let the world weep. Come on.” He grabs Sam’s arm and the world tilts on its axis, throwing the hunter’s balance. When Gabriel lets him go – inside the tree house now – he stumbles.

“I hate when you do that.” Gabriel grins and walks around the room, nodding to himself. Sam looks around as well, and notes that off the main room (which happens to have a sofa, coffee table, lamp and bookshelf – electricity apparently isn’t a problem) are two other rooms, one slightly smaller than the main room and housing a large bed, the other tiny and home to a mini fridge. Sam snorts. “Pretty hi-tech for a house we’re only gonna use once.” Gabriel sticks out his tongue.

“Only the best for us Sammy.” Sam laughs. They spend the afternoon reading and talking, and when the sun sets Gabriel pulls Sam into the bedroom.

“Gabriel,” he mutters, stiff. Gabriel shoves him onto the bed and crawls up beside him.

“Go to sleep, Sam.” He rests his head on Sam’s chest and throws an arm over him, getting comfortable. “I promise I won’t molest you.” Sam sighs and shifts into a more comfortable position. He closes his eyes, and Gabriel listens as Sam’s breathing levels out. He sighs and allows himself to drift into a resting state.

–

“We should act out a fairytale.”

Sam looks up from his laptop. He raises an eyebrow at Gabriel, and the Archangel bounces on the balls of his feet eagerly. “A fairytale? What, like Cinderella?” Gabriel pouts and looks away, face reddening.

“…no…”

Sam stares at him. Gabriel shifts anxiously, and Sam blinks. “You really were thinking Cinderella. Are you kidding me?” Gabriel scuffs his foot on the carpet.

“Please? I think it would be fun.”

“I have to be the girl, don’t I?” Gabriel nods, and Sam sighs, closing the lid on his laptop. He pulls out his cell phone and dials Dean’s number. It jumps to voice mail, but Sam’s okay with that, because this is even more embarrassing than the blanket fort last month. “Hey Dean. Gabriel and I are… gonna be out for a while. Don’t worry, I’m safe. Talk to you later.” He hangs up and gets to his feet. “Okay,” he mutters, “let’s go.”

Gabriel grins, and snaps his fingers. Sam blinks, and Gabriel’s gone. So is the motel room. Sam looks down to see himself wearing a tattered tee shirt and sweatpants. He huffs and sets out to explore.

Gabriel has modernized Cinderella. Sam’s almost positive that they’re in Washington, D.C. That means, instead of royalty, Sam’s “step family” is concerned heavily with politics. Oh joy. It’s a cruel joke that Gabriel has cast  _Lucifer_ as the evil step parent. Though, he supposes he should be grateful it isn’t John. Sam’s never been able to grumble quietly while he does what John says. Lucifer’s relatively easy to ignore. Gabriel kept his personality the same, so all he really does is tell Sam his failings in a soft voice that Sam can’t help feeling bad hearing. Sam just does what chores he gives him, and Lucifer mostly leaves him alone. His step  _sister_  on the other hand, is Ruby, of all people. Sam kind of wants to punch Gabriel.

Sam bullshits his way through five days before word gets around about the politican’s ball. Apparently, at least in this version of the world, balls are still a common thing. The announcement promises dinner and dancing. Surprisingly, Sam is actually very excited about it, and really,  _really_  wants to go. He blames Gabriel. Sam’s expecting it, but his heart still drops out of his chest when Lucifer figures out Sam wants to go.

“You can’t go, Sam.” Sam’s pretty sure he’s slipping into his puppy dog face. “Don’t look at me like that,” Lucifer snaps. That confirms that theory. Sam forces his expression to smooth out. Lucifer hasn’t gotten violent with him yet, but he’d rather not risk it. He doesn’t know what’ll happen to the fairytale if he fights Lucifer here. “We don’t have anything respectable for you to wear, first of all. Not to mention all the chores you need to get done.” Sam shifts his feet, steels himself.

“Please?” he whispers. “I swear I’ll get all my work done, and… I’ll figure out something to wear. I promise. Don’t make me stay home.” Lucifer hums, looking at Sam calculatingly. Finally, he seems to come to a decision.

“The politician’s ball is in three days. If I give you a list of extra chores, and you finish them all in time, including your normal chores, I’ll give you something to wear myself.” Sam’s eyes light up eagerly, and Lucifer smiles his calm smile. He touches Sam’s cheek tenderly.

“I do miss seeing that smile, Sam. You remind me so much of your mother.” Sam’s smile drops, and so does Lucifer’s hand. He sighs and turns away. “I’ll give you the list after dinner.”

Three days goes by quickly, Sam encouraging himself through cleaning by singing Beatles songs to himself while he works. Each night when he drops into bed, he even falls asleep humming ‘Hey Jude’ even though he doesn’t quite know why it helps him sleep better. Whenever Lucifer passes him in the house, if he catches the bars of whatever song Sam’s picked for the moment, a pained look always crosses his features, and he moves on quickly.

The night of the ball arrives. Sam finishes with the windows in the hall, then looks down at his list, skimming it. Everything’s done. He smiles and puts away his cleaning supplies, then seeks out Lucifer. He finds him in Ruby’s bedroom, where she’s struggling into a dress that Sam thinks looks extremely painful. She whines and yells, and Lucifer ducks smoothly to one side when she throws her brush. He sighs, before looking up to notice Sam.

“Oh, Sam,” he greets with a smile. “Done already? That’s wonderful. I’ll go get you your outfit. Will you help your sister? I’ve tried telling her that this doesn’t fit her any longer, but she insists.” Sam nods and Lucifer leaves the room. Ruby turns to glare at Sam.

“I can’t believe Father’s letting you come. You’re going to mess everything up!” Sam rolls his eyes and motions for Ruby to turn around. Reluctantly, she does so.

“Mess what up?” he asks, lifting the sheer layer of her dress and tugging on the satin clinging to her form. His pulling loosens a few folds, and he smooths the material down before letting the sheer layer fall over it once more. Without the many folds of bunched up fabric, the dress fits Ruby considerably better, and she holds her hair out of the way while Sam zips it up for her. He fluffs her curls absently when she lets them fall, and he catches a strange expression in the mirror. It looks similar to the expression she wore when she called him Dumbo, back when they released Lucifer. Sam shivers and pulls his hands away.

Lucifer returns, and surprise flashes on his face when he sees Ruby, like he didn’t expect them to make the dress fit. He holds out a suit to Sam, and for a brief moment, they smile at each other, before Sam ducks away to change.

Gabriel’s entrance is flashy, as expected. For fairytale purposes, Gabriel is apparently the son of the president. Sam’s not that impressed. He’s less impressed by the way girls are throwing themselves at Gabriel, probably in the hopes of dating him and experiencing a bit of fame and fortune themselves. Sam thinks it’s sick. When Gabriel gets him alone, he tells him as much.

“Girls aren’t all really like that, you know,” he says. Gabriel shoots him a surprised look, and smiles.

“I know. But they are in fairytales. Kind of depressing, right. It probably doesn’t mean much coming from the guy who conjures up women just for sex, but I’m actually very supportive, to an extent, of the feminist movement.” Sam snorts.

“’To an extent’? What’s that mean?”

Gabriel grins. “It means, I’m totally cool with strong, smart females. Lilith was one of them. She only got herself thrown out because she wanted equality. Now, that’s like, a common goal. But at the same time, aside from the oppressive bits, women had it made way back whenever.” Sam arches an eyebrow and Gabriel bumps his arm. “You know. Men go out and work for hours, women send the kids off to school. They have to stay home and clean, sure, but that’s easy enough with the house empty. Then, as long as they have dinner ready, they can do whatever for the rest of the day. Their husbands take care of them, they’re guaranteed food and warmth and anything else they might need. Seems pretty awesome to me.”

Sam laughs. “I think there was more to it than that,” he points out. “If it was really that great as it was, women wouldn’t have wanted change so badly.”

“Maybe they were bored?” Sam snorts. Gabriel shrugs. “Eh, what do you know, anyway. You’re a man.”

They sit together in silence for a while, before Sam looks at Gabriel. “This isn’t like any version of Cinderella I’ve ever read.” Gabriel hums.

“I  _was_ gonna go for awful. You would’ve been stuck with John Winchester and Gordon Walker as your family. Fighting for your life every minute of every day. But… I wanted you to have the chance to see the Lucifer I remember from Heaven. So I changed the rules.” Sam smiles.

“Thanks.” Gabriel looks up. “For sharing your family with me.” Sam turns to face Gabriel and looks down at him. “Next time, if you want a kiss, just say something.” He wraps his hand around the back of Gabriel’s head, leans down, and pulls him into a kiss. It’s more than the little peck Gabriel hit him with back when they built the blanket fort. Sam parts his lips and coaxes Gabriel into a proper, heated kiss. Gabriel hums his approval and wraps his arms around Sam’s neck, holding him in place.

They part, and Gabriel smirks. “So you  _didn’t_  like all the childhood things we’ve been doing?” Sam rolls his eyes.

“You have the weirdest courtship methods.” Gabriel grins and pulls Sam back in. Sam hears his fingers snap, and the world shifts around them.

–

Sam would like everyone to know that Cinderella’s castle – the actual thing, in Disneyland – has the softest beds he has ever slept on. And also that one of them happens to be broken now.

Whoops.


End file.
